Mystery Skulls: Set Free By The Truth
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: The truth of what really happened in the cave is revealed just as Lewis sends Arthur to his death. Will they mend their friendship and stop the real monster? Done as a request for circusgoth13. :)


**circusgoth13 asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)**

 **Arthur, Mystery, Lewis, Arthur's father, and Vivi belong to MysteryBen27. The song "Hellbent" belongs to Mystery Skulls.**

 **A/N: This takes place at the end of the Mystery Skulls Animated music video "Hellbent" when it shows Lewis with his heart locket gray colored and cracked, Arthur falling, the evil spirit raising her sharp shears over her head, Vivi cowering on the ground, and Mystery changing into his kitsune form. This story also contains spoilers for the music videos that MysteryBen27 created.**

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 **Mystery Skulls: Set Free By The Truth**

It was finally time.

Lewis felt anger fill him as he was finally about to get his revenge on Arthur for the cave incident a few years back. But the shock in the boy's voice when he had spoken Lewis' name right before the ghost let go of the blonde boy's shirt stunned the pink-haired ghost and he felt a sharp pain in his chest and glanced down to see his heart locket, which was usually gold in color, was now gray, almost black, and cracked.

He stared at it in shock. No, that couldn't be right. If a ghost's heart turned black and cracked...

It meant he was about to murder an innocent person.

Lewis felt more shock fill him. How could Arthur be innocent? He had pushed Lewis to his death a few years back. Arthur had killed him and was now going to pay for his crimes.

There was no way he was innocent.

The pain grew sharper and he felt to his knees, clutching at the heart locket as the Deadbeats gathered around him worriedly, feeling their master's pain.

The farther Arthur fell, the sharper the pain Lewis felt.

* * *

Arthur felt himself fall and it seemed that he was falling so slowly now. He couldn't believe it. The ghost was Lewis.

It made sense now. The ghost hadn't hurt Vivi because Lewis loved Vivi when he was alive and he still remembered her and refused to hurt her. He had stopped chasing Arthur when Vivi had intervened.

Lewis' death had filled Arthur with guilt over what had happened. Even though his arm had been possessed by an evil spirit, he still pushed Lewis off the cliff and had watched helplessly as the older boy had died. His guilt had helped to slow down the evil spirit's possession of him and gave Mystery time to rip his arm off to stop the evil spirt completely.

But it came at a great cost. Lewis had died and Arthur now had a new arm, but it just reminded him of that horrible night. He had been jealous that Lewis had Vivi's attention and that Vivi liked Lewis more than a friend. But still, he never would have wished anything bad to happen to Lewis. Lewis had been his best friend too.

Now, as he was falling to his death, he looked up and saw Lewis kneeling by the edge of the cliff, doubled over as if in pain. Arthur saw the pink eyes look straight into his and he looked up at his once-best friend.

"Lewis, I'm sorry," he said softly. "Please tell Vivi I'm sorry."

With that, the blonde boy closed his eyes, knowing it wouldn't be long before he hit the sharp rocks and died.

* * *

Lewis heard Arthur's apology and his heart arched more strongly now, just as the Deadbeats' hearts began to turn black and crack. Seeing this, Lewis couldn't stand it. The pain was too much and if it turned out that Arthur was innocent, the guilt would haunt him forever and he'd never be at peace. And it was possible the blonde-haired boy would become a ghost like him too.

No, he decided, he wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Struggling to stand up and leaning gratefully on the Deadbeats who helped him up, Lewis held out his hand and swiped his arm to his right in an 'away' motion, making the sharp rocks at the bottom of the cave disappear. "Catch him," he said to his loyal Deadbeats.

The small pink ghosts dived down and quickly reformed at the bottom and moved quick, flying up and successfully catching Arthur, who grunted in surprise as he was caught and he opened his eyes to see the Deadbeats had him and were struggling to fly upwards and carry him. He glanced down and was shocked to see the sharp rocks gone. "Um, what happened?" He asked.

One Deadbeat indicated to its heart, which was slowly turning back to gold and the cracks healing. That made the boy worried. "Did...Did you guys get hurt?" He asked.

" _Master's heart turned black and cracked,"_ one of them said in a whisper-like voice. _"Means he was about to kill innocent person."_

That confused Arthur. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I...I'm the one that pushed Lewis off the cliff all those years ago."

"No," came a familiar voice and he saw they had made it back up to Lewis. The pink-haired ghost grabbed the blonde-haired boy and pulled him away from the cliff. "Arthur, did you know it was me this whole time?"

The boy shook his head. "No, I didn't," he said. "But...after I noticed you wouldn't hurt Vivi and that you resembled someone I knew, I began to wonder."

The ghost looked at him. "How did you figure out it was me?" He asked.

"I...I think some of your energy got into my metal arm," Arthur said. "When I grabbed your arm, the energy revealed your real face to me, which made me realize it was you."

Lewis gently touched the metal arm. "What happened to your arm?" He asked.

"I...I think I was being possessed by an evil spirit," the boy said. "One that sensed I was jealous of you having Vivi's attention and love and...it took hold of me and made me push you...to your death."

He said the last part softly before looking up. "Next thing I remember was a sharp pain and Mystery had ripped my arm off, but I didn't recognize his powerful form."

They suddenly heard a snarl and a scream, followed by the sound of a gunshot.

"Vivi!" Both cried out.

Wasting no time, Lewis grabbed Arthur and flew as fast as he could to the back of the truck, which lead to outside. When they arrived, they saw Arthur's father some ways from Vivi with a shotgun in his hands and it was pointed as someone the two recognized.

"Hey, that's the crazy woman that tried to get to Mystery!" Arthur said.

Lewis growled. "Arthur, get to Vivi," he said. "Get her into your father's shop."

The blonde-haired boy quickly ran towards Vivi, who was scooting back to get away from the evil spirit, whose dark eyes were glaring now and she was glaring at the man who had dared to take a shot at her. Of course, being an evil spirit, human bullets didn't hurt her.

Mystery snarled and went into his kitsune form, standing firm beside Vivi. Arthur's father cocked his shotgun again and raised it to fire at Mystery.

"Dad, no!" Arthur cried out, jumping in front of the gun. "Mystery is trying to save Vivi!"

His father blinked. "What?" He asked.

"It's true," Lewis said before glaring at the evil spirit. "This witch is the reason your son has a metal arm. She's the reason I was killed. She's the reason I lost everything."

She glared at him. "I may not have been able to complete my spell back in the cave, but meeting you gave me the chance to find out where my greatest enemy was," she said in a raspy voice.

"But why?" Vivi asked.

"So I could roam free, but I had to create some chaos," she said. "If that stupid kitsune hadn't interferred, that boy would have been fully possessed by the evil spell of jealousy."

Arthur felt his metal arm and then glared at her. "You killed Lewis, you tried to hurt Vivi, and you hurt Mystery," he said before standing before her. "I won't let you hurt them again."

She laughed. "No human can stop me, boy," she said.

"No, but a kitsune and a warrior can," Lewis said as his Deadbeats brought Vivi the bat that had been knocked away from her and Mystery was ready to pounce in his kitsune form.

Arthur's father watched in shock as Vivi took up the bat and looked ready to fight. Arthur joined her, as did Lewis. Vivi looked up at him. "Lewis?" She asked, wondering why the name rang a bell.

Arthur looked at her. "He's your boyfriend, Vivi," he said. "And our best friend."

She gasped as her memories of the cave came back and she gave her head a quick shake before turning to glare at the evil spirit. "No one hurts my boyfriend, my best friend, or my dog and gets away with it!" She exclaimed, charging into the fight with them right behind her.

The evil spirit snarled and brought out her shears, but that didn't stop the team as Mystery bit her leg and didn't let go, Vivi and Arthur blocked her attacks from hitting them and Mystery and Lewis and the Deadbeats used their powers to help Mystery fight her.

"NO!" She screamed. "I won't lose again! You will be my puppets!"

"I don't think so!" Vivi exclaimed, swinging the bat and making the evil spirit's head spin rapidly again.

Just then, a glow surrounded the three friends and Mystery, a glow that was colored red, gold, purple, and blue. The brightness of the glow increased and with one last final scream, the spirit was vanquished.

As the glow died down, Mystery smiled. "You've all been set free by the truth," he said. "Your anger and fear didn't allow you to stop and think about what had happened, but now, you have not only mended your friendships, but you all now know the truth."

"Who was that creepy lady?" Arthur asked while Vivi tried to wrap her mind around the fact that Mystery could talk and that the ghost she had met sometime back was actually her boyfriend, Lewis.

"One of my enemies who was searching for me in hopes of destroying me, but kitsunes aren't easily defeated," the dog said with a smile.

Arthur's father came forward. "So that's why my shotgun didn't work against her," he said.

"Well, in your defense, it did surprise her," Mystery said. "And gave Lewis and Arthur the chance to see who was really behind the cave incident."

"Will...Will she be able to come back?" Arthur asked.

"Hard to say. Evil spirits tend to find ways back to our world," the dog replied. "But let's hope we never have to run into her again."

Vivi looked at Lewis, who looked at her and gently brushed his fingers over her face. "Oh, Vivi," he said softly.

She reached up and gently touched his skull. "Oh, Lewis," she said softly before she impulsively kissed him.

Lewis' eyes went wide, but then closed softly as he wrapped his arms around the blue-haired girl, holding her close. Arthur saw this and for once didn't feel jealous. He looked at his metal arm and sighed, realizing that his jealousy had caused Lewis' death. He felt a gentle nudge on his leg and looked to see Mystery was beside him. "Arthur, would you really have wished Lewis dead?" The kitsune asked.

"No way," the blonde-haired boy said immediately. "I wouldn't wish death on anyone, no matter how jealous or angry I am at them."

Vivi looked at him, her eyes wide. "You were jealous of Lewis?" She asked, having not been aware of that.

"Yeah," Arthur said sheepishly. "Because I felt you were ignoring me and spending all your time with Lewis."

Lewis let Vivi go and went over to the boy, looking at his metal arm. "I do recall seeing your arm turning green," he said. "I thought it was just the mist, but it wasn't, was it?"

"No," the boy said. "I...I couldn't stop that witch's spell. It was too strong."

"It enhanced Arthur's negative emotions and made it hard for him to overcome it," Mystery said. "By the time I transformed and stopped the possession, it was too late."

Vivi was quiet. "So, in the mansion, when you were chasing Arthur, Lewis," she began.

"It was for revenge for his death," Arthur supplied. "But...I didn't know it was him. I just thought it was someone who was angry we had intruded upon his home, but when you jumped in front of me, Vivi, and the ghost stopped short, it made me wonder why he was hesitant to hurt you."

"What made you finally realize it was him?" She asked.

"In the cave," he said, gesturing to the truck. "Lewis recreated the cave scene in the truck and when some of his energy ran into my metal arm and I grabbed his arm with that same hand, the energy revealed to me who the ghost chasing us really was."

Arthur's father looked at Lewis. "You were going to kill my son?" He asked, his voice hardened.

"Yes," the pink-haired ghost said softly. "Until I realized he was innocent."

The Deadbeats swirled around them softly. _"We were all fooled,"_ one said, whispering, but they could still hear it. " _If victim murdered is innocent, ghost's heart turns black and cracks."_

" _No hope of being repaired,"_ another whispered.

" _Master listened and saved Arthur before it was too late,"_ a third one said.

Vivi looked closer and noticed the hearts they all had still had a little black around the edges and some cracks, but both were slowly fading away. She turned to Arthur, who looked away in shame, but she went up to him and tilted his face to look at her. "Arthur, I know you wouldn't truly hurt anyone," she said softly.

"But I still did," he said. "I...I hurt Lewis and I hurt you."

"But you were under that witch's control," she said, still speaking softly. "She hurt all of us, Arthur."

It was quiet before the blue-haired girl hugged the blonde-haired boy tightly. "Arthur, I forgive you," she said. "I love you as a friend and I don't ever want to lose you."

Arthur hugged her back, tears coming to his eyes as the heavy burden he felt seemed to be a bit lighter. He looked at his best friend. "You won't lose me, Vivi," he promised. "And I'm going to make sure you don't lose Lewis either."

That made the ghost look at him curiously, but the boy smiled. "You're the best one for you, Lewis," he said honestly before letting Vivi go. "Take care of her."

Lewis felt something in that statement and he went up to the boy, looking at him sternly. "If you think Vivi, Mystery, and I are going to take the van and continue solving mysteries without you, you're wrong, squirt," he said, his voice taking a playful, teasing tone. "We're not going to lose you as a friend."

Mystery smiled. "To split up now would show that witch she's won," he said seriously. "So let's show her she can't break up our friendship."

Arthur didn't look sure, but Lewis then pulled him into a tight hug. The boy was shocked and went still. "Arthur, I forgive you," the pink-haired ghost said softly.

That was it. The burden he had felt was now gone and he wrapped his arms around the ghost. "We really missed you, big guy," he said softly.

Arthur's father smiled and looked at the van, which was a bit damaged and he whistled. "That spirt did a number on the van," he said and went to grab his tools. "Let's see about getting it fixed."

While Arthur and his father fixed the van, Lewis snapped his fingers and returned the eighteen-wheeler he had borrowed back to his owner while Vivi was watching the Deadbeats, who were up to their silly antics, making her laugh.

Mystery stood watch over them all, smiling as he saw that Arthur was finally truly happy, Vivi was her bubbly self as always, and Lewis, though still a ghost, was no longer angry, but content. He would stay a ghost because he still had business on Earth, but he at least was back with his best friends, reunited and friendships mended.

The truth had not only set the three friends free, but now was their strongest weapon against the witch if she returned or if any evil spirt tried to break them apart again.

Turning to his kitsune form, he looked up at the moon, his eyes flashing in a warning to any evil spirits that were thinking about attempting what the witch had attempted and failed at.

The four friends would never be torn apart ever again.

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 **Please remember, this is just my take on what happened after the end of "Hellbent". Though I will say, I am curious to see the next chapter that MysteryBen27 is planning. :)**

 **Please leave a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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